Monday, September 30, 2019

Bad Banana - Stand Next To Me 7"

Untitled

Merge (2019)

This 7" was in the most recent Merge records Born Under A Good Sign package.  It also came with an LP that I haven't had a chance to really listen to yet, but you can expect more about that in a couple of weeks.  This is a four song 7" by Bad Banana, a band I wan't familiar with until opening this package from Merge.

A little digging around the internet reveals that the four songs on this 7" were pulled from a 2010 demo tape that Bad Banana put out.  They are a two piece of Allison and Katie Crutchfield.  Those two have been involved in other bands that I've heard of such as PS Eliot and Swearin' among others.

The songs on the record are raw in a way that reminds me of the first Thermals record.  The vocals are totally blown out, but in a good way I think.  While I think these songs are reasonably catchy and have good energy, Bad Banana isn't the hook machine that The Thermals are, and because of how the vocals are recorded, that's who I keep thinking about when listing to this.

I will say this, it's a lot better than some of the other stuff that's come in from this Merge subscription.  I signed up knowing that Superchunk would have something in it, but aside from that, it's been something of a let down.  That said, I haven't listened to the new LP that came with this 7" and it is a band that I like.  And there's one more pack of records due before the end of the year, so we'll see what happens.

Bad Banana - Crushfield Cassette (I can't find the songs individually, but this has the four 7" songs along with the rest of the original tape):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEZV2EDGf0

No comments:

Post a Comment